Lions fall to Ballard in Substate battle

(Above) Jack Barragy works his way around a Ballard player during Wednesday night’s game.  The Bombers topped the Lions, 65-56, to move on to the State tournament.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Marianne Gasaway

Untimely turnovers and stretches of cold shooting doomed the Clear Lake Lions in their SubState battle with Ballard Wednesday night.  The Bombers (18-6) advanced to State with a 65-56 victory.

“Unfortunately, the things that have been a concern all year showed up in the biggest game of the year -- untimely turnovers and not being able to make enough shots from outside,” said Clear Lake Coach Jeremey Ainley.  “We had 15 turnovers and shot 2/14 from outside and it is hard to beat a really good team and overcome those deficiencies.”

After being tied up at 6-6 three minutes into the contest, Ballard outscored the Lions 9-4 to take a 17-10 lead.  A shot at the buzzer by Kody Kearns trimmed the deficit to 19-17 Ballard after one quarter of play.

A hook shot by Andrew Formanek gave the Lions their first lead with six-minutes left in the half, 22-21.  Thirty-seconds later, the Bombers grabbed the lead and never looked back.  They outscored the Lions, 19-13 for a 38-30 halftime lead.  The Bombers sunk four of 11 three-point attempts and caused 10 Lion turnovers in the half.

Formanek scored 13 of his team-high 21 points in the third quarter to help the Lions pull within one, 49-48, in the final minutes of the third quarter.  A pair of free throws and buzzer beater kept the Bombers on top, 54-48.

“After getting down early in the first half, I was really proud of our resiliency and fight in the third quarter to cut the game to one,” said Coach Ainley.  “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get over the hump.”

The Lions made just 30 percent of their shots in the fourth quarter and finished at 40 percent in the game (21/52). They also committed 15 turnovers, compared to nine for the Bombers.

Clear Lake out rebounded Ballard, 25-16, and was 12/17 from the free throw line while the Bombers were 6/11.

Jaylen DeVries and Carson Toebe joined Formanek in double digit scoring.  DeVries put in 13 points and Toebe finished with 11.  Kearns put in six points, Jack Barragy three, and Eric Ritter scored two points in the game.  

In addition to his 21-points, Formanek had a team-high 12 rebounds and five blocks.

The Lions will graduate seven members (DeVries, Barragy, Kearns, Jackson Loge, Nick Danielson, Mitchell Raber and Brody Kuhlmeier) from their 2020 team, which ended their season with a record of 20-4.  

“I am very proud of this group and especially the seniors -- they have had a great run and put Clear Lake basketball in a discussion as an elite basketball program when talking programs around the state,” said Coach Ainley, noting the group had a two-year record of 44-6 and three-year run of 61-11, including a 39-2 conference record.  They also posted back-to-back 20 win seasons (first time in school history), were back-to-back-to-back conference champions (first time in school history), and had five players named to the All-North Central Conference teams (three on First Team for the first time in school history).  

“Ten years ago I am not sure anybody thought this was possible in Clear Lake and these guys helped change the culture into a program that not only plays hard, but one that wins and does it the right way,” continued Ainley.  “Our fans were awesome all year -- we are so very thankful for the continued support for our program!  We have a 33-game home winning streak for a reason -- our fans making our gym a real advantage for us.  I am very proud this team and the future of Clear Lake basketball.”